Negligence and Tort – Group home resident falls, sustaining femur fracture

$500,000 settlement

Injuries alleged: Subtrochanteric femur fracture

Date resolved: April 13, 2026

Special damages: $247,492.39 in past medical bills

Amount: $500,000

Attorney for plaintiff: Ellen C. Bognar, Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, Charlottesville

Case description: As a result of medical conditions including spastic cerebral palsy, nonverbal autism and bilateral fixed flexion contractures of the hips and knees, a group home resident required total support with personal care. On Oct. 30, 2025, two staff members were dressing him after giving him a bed bath in a bed with no side rails in place. The nurse went outside to take a phone call. While she was gone, the aide rolled the resident out of bed onto the floor. The aide reported that she “turned him to [sic] far to his left side and he fell off the bed.” Staff picked him up off the floor and put him back in bed using a Hoyer lift. The nurse purportedly assessed him before and after moving him, but she failed to recognize signs of injury; although she administered Tylenol “for pain,” she reported to his mother that he was slipping as they tried to lower him to the floor, but he was fine.

On Nov. 1, staff observed that the resident’s right leg and foot were swollen; he had decreased range of motion in his right leg, and he “expressed pain through some audible sounds, facial grimacing and body movements that indicated pain.” Staff sent the resident to the hospital, where imaging revealed a comminuted subtrochanteric femur fracture. On Nov. 4, the resident underwent antegrade femoral nailing surgery. He remained in the hospital for two more weeks before being discharged to another group home, where he received home health skilled nursing and physical therapy. The fracture healed without complication.

While the resident was in the hospital, the defendant group home implemented full side rails “to prevent future rolls to the floor during positioning” and educated staff “on ensuring side rails are used on the opposing side when care is being provided by one staff” member.